Light Shining Out of Darkness

The speaker presents his subject in the first line, in fact in the first word of their poem: “God” (Line 1). Though “God” is their subject, they admit the difficulty of writing about a being about whom so little is actually empirically known. The speaker notes the “mysterious way” (Line 1) in which God acts and “moves” (Line 1). God’s actions are labeled as “wonders” (Line 2), since they are so inconceivable and magnificent. The usage of the possessive pronoun in “His wonders” (Line 2) attributes the power and agency solely in God, nothing or no one else. The mystical and perplexing nature of God is further exemplified as the speaker describes how He “plants his footsteps in the sea” (Line 3). The line itself is slightly paradoxical, as any “footsteps” that would be created in the sand at the bottom of the sea floor would undoubtedly be washed away by ocean currents or disturbed by marine life. These “steps” or actions of God are therefore hidden and unable to be witnessed firsthand. God’s actions are likewise characterized as he “rides upon the storm” (Line 4). Storms are often associated with images of lightning, sounds of thunder, and the undulations of strong winds.